A Waste of Time-Chapter 115: Frayed Horizon

Yan Jia had worn an invisible cloak of sorrow ever since Daemon’s capture. Forced to obey and relocate under Li Yue’s promise of safety, she had carried that grief quietly, like a weight pressing down her every step. But now, at Ippo’s words, her gloom cracked apart. Her face brightened like a flower opening to the sun, and she sprang forward, hands clutching his shoulders.
“Really! How is he? Is he hurt? He wants us to help him escape the Mountain, right?”
Yan Ru froze mid-swing, the steel peg he had been hammering into the earth dangling loosely in his grip. He looked over at his troublesome pupil, waiting in silence for answers to his younger sister’s flood of questions.
Even Xia and little Mei leaned closer, their breaths caught in quiet anxiety. Overhead, Kirin arched its long neck down, great eyes fixed on this smaller reflection of its true master.
“He’s not hurt,” Ippo said at last. His tone was steady, but his eyes gleamed with mischief. “And no—he doesn’t want us to help him escape. He’s certain he can handle everything on his own. And if not… then Master himself will deal with them.”
He slid his arms around Jia’s waist, pulling her into a tight embrace. His cheek pressed shamelessly into her softness as he inhaled deeply, savoring her feminine scent. Only then did he continue, voice muffled but clear:
“We’ll leave. We’ll build ourselves up in the Dynasty. If the Solar Lotus Sect is willing to take you two in, then I’ll offer them something valuable—intel on the Mountain. Once Daemon is released from that so-called Azure Lock Chamber of the Merit Hall, they’ll see the worth of what I provide.”
Turning his head, Ippo fixed his smirk on Li Yue and her niece, Li Hua.
“I trust you’ve gathered enough by now to fill several s. When we reach the Headquarters of the White-Moon Syndicate, I’ll expect you to deliver it to the right ears. Not just anyone—those who know how to use it. Because once the Mountain hears of a prisoner spilling their secrets in the open, even better than a spy in the dark, every chance we have will vanish.”
Daemon sat cross-legged on the dais, still weary from Elder Bai Sui’s earlier visit. The elder had ordered Su An to see to all his needs—food, drink, and even a bath. He had sneered that the boy reeked like a dying animal and demanded that the next time he or anyone else came, the prisoner should at least be presentable.
Now Su An returned, her Space-Pouch bulging at her waist. One by one she retrieved its contents: food, jugs of water, a wooden barrel that she filled and heated with her Fire Qi, then scented oils and fragrant extracts that quickly thickened the air with perfume. Last came a folded set of clean clothes, meant to replace the ragged scrap of cloth barely clinging to Daemon’s frail frame—the last remnant of what he had worn before her Senior Brothers and Sisters were beaten down by him.
Daemon thanked her softly, politely, before setting himself to eat. He munched in silence, keeping up the act of a boy stripped of everything, driven only by grief and the bitter desire to know who had killed his followers. He avoided the heavy food—meats, fats, even the rice and bread—knowing his starved stomach would rebel. Instead, he contented himself with fruit and vegetables, chewing slowly, drinking water to wash the sweet juices down. It was hardly enough to replenish him, not while his Blood continued to seep, drop by drop, through copper tubes into jade vials and the runed gourd—like a thief with infinite patience and a steady hand.
When he had eaten his fill, Su An slipped an arm under him and helped him to his feet. She guided him into the steaming barrel. Daemon wrinkled his nose immediately, assaulted by the overwhelming fragrance of flowers rising with the steam. Su An only smiled, reaching for a porous scrubbing stone as she knelt at his side.
“This is the Azure Lock Chamber,” she explained gently, rubbing at the grime that clung to his thin skin. “The most secure place within the Merit Hall.”
Daemon lowered his head, allowing her to work his hair. “Then I must be a very important prisoner,” he muttered.
Her hands faltered. Guilt clouded her eyes as she scooped water into her palms and let it cascade over his tangled locks, fingers massaging his scalp with care. “W-why do you say that?” she asked before she could stop herself, curiosity slipping through the cracks of her discipline.
Daemon glanced at the copper tubes still attached to him, bending and stretching with each movement to keep the flow steady. The vials were nearly full, the gourd already pulsing faintly.
“Why else would I be kept in such a secure place, if I weren’t important?”
Su An’s breath caught. She realized then how easily he had pieced it together, and it was her own slip of the tongue that had handed him the answer. A rueful smile tugged at her lips as she shook her head.
Smarty pants,
she thought, though her frown melted into a grin. She kept scrubbing, slower now, lingering. To her surprise, she found herself enjoying the task—enjoying the company of the boy she was supposed to pity.
Daemon was guided back to the dais once Su An finished washing and dressing him in a fresh set of clean clothes. She settled him onto a soft cushion and even laid out a mattress nearby, in case he wanted to lie down and rest when she was gone.
He watched quietly as she replaced the full jade vials with empty ones, tucking the filled containers neatly into her Space-Pouch. Then, with a sharp inhale followed by a long exhale—as though steeling herself for a difficult task—Su An turned to the gourd.
She placed her palms carefully on two glowing runes etched into its sides. From her pouch she retrieved another jade vial, this one carved with twice the number of runes compared to the five ordinary containers surrounding the gourd. Placing it against the protruding socket, she pushed Fire Qi into the gourd’s paired runes.
Daemon’s brows lifted as he noticed the change in her demeanor. Su An’s breath hitched; her cheeks flushed crimson. Her entire posture shifted as if she had just swallowed a draught of strong liquor.
Why does she look so intoxicated all of a sudden?
he thought, tilting his head in genuine curiosity.
Catching his stare, Su An flushed even deeper and stammered, “It’s a natural reaction… d-don’t get any weird ideas. I’m not a pervert!”
“Really now?” Daemon smirked, tapping his chin. Teasing her proved far more entertaining than sitting idle, waiting in the submerged path to allow him another Hourly-Roll of the red and white Dice, or to fall endlessly in darkness, rolling in a suspended state between unconsciousness and sleep until the notification ring wakes him up to Roll the dice once again.
Her blush darkened further, her teeth grinding with humiliation as she forced her gaze downward, focusing on her task.
This kid is pure evil,
she thought bitterly while working to siphon the Blood Essence from the gourd into the high-quality vial.
“All Body-Refiners’ blood,” she said finally, her voice strained but steady, “is known to be an organic aphrodisiac. The higher the Realm of the Body-Refiner… the more potent its effects.” She did not dare raise her eyes to meet his while she spoke, cheeks still burning.
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